“The (R) evolution of Steve Jobs, ” a new opera by Bay Area composer Mason Bates, debuts in Santa Fe in July and comes to San Francisco Opera in 2019-20.
Sing out, Steve Jobs!
The legendary guru of the cult of Apple is about to be commemorated in — wait for it — an opera dubbed “The (R) evolution of Steve Jobs.” Huh? How does that compute? Why celebrate the bard of technology in a 19th century art form? Talk about think different.
And while the opera has been in development since 2015, and premieres in Santa Fe in July, reports said Tuesday that San Francisco Opera has become a financial partner in “ (R) evolution and will host the production during the company’s 2019-20 season. Seattle Opera, the National Endowment for the Arts and Berkeley’s Cal Performances are also in on collaboration.
“Building bridges between the community and the opera house is what excites me most, ” says San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock, an avid iPhone user, as he rushed about backstage preparations for “La Boheme, ” opening June 10. “This is an opera that tells the story of our community. Jobs was a global icon but he was also a member of the community here and his vision had a profound impact on the zeitgeist of life in the Bay Area for all of us.”
Dates and ticket information for the San Francisco production are yet to be announced.
The opera’s composer Mason Bates, who was trained at Juilliard and UC Berkeley, and whose works have been performed throughout the Bay Area and the U. S., teamed with librettist Mark Campbell on “ (R) evolution.” It marks Bates’ first full-length opera.
“Mason’s new opera is a deeply layered, moving portrayal of a man grappling with the complex priorities of life, family and work, ” Shilvock has said. “Like all great operas, I have been so impressed by how it speaks to the universality of the human condition. This is not just an opera about one man. It is an opera about all of us.”
Certainly this is a life story that has been endlessly explored, from Alex Gibney’s blistering expose “The Man in the Machine” to Hollywood movies starring Ashton Kutcher and Michael Fassbender. The tech icon and his habits, from his signature black turtlenecks to his vegetarian diet, has been a hot topic since his death from cancer in 2011.
“Jobs’ search for inner peace is the story of the opera, ” said Bates in a release, “which is about a man who learns to be human again.”
Charles MacKay, general director of the Santa Fe Opera, noted that he sees Jobs, who was famous for warring with his partners and employees, as a “sort of heroic, tragic figure, ” not to mention a superhero for the millennial generation (a demographic opera companies are anxious to reach) .
Santa Fe Opera has a track record of producing new and different works. “The proof is in the pudding and in how the audience responds, ” MacKay told the Associated Press. “This is not an opera about technology, although it will be the highest-technology production that we’ ve ever done. It is an opera about relationships, and it is an opera about human frailties.… He (Jobs) could be a very difficult man.”
Indeed, it’s part of Silicon Valley lore that Jobs made enemies as fast as he did friends. He famously hoodwinked Steve Wozniak out of dough during the early days of the microcomputer revolution and he almost single-handedly envisioned a world where most people have a more intimate relationship with their smart phone than with their spouse.
The rise of tech culture is the key to the story. Scenic designer Victoria Tzykun says the aesthetic of the opera will be inspired by the trademark elegance and pizzazz of the Apple ethos.
“The products and experiences that Steve Jobs dreamed up with his teams defied expectations and provided a sense of wonder. That sense of wonder is what is very important for us to capture in this production, ” said Tzykun in a release. “We are harnessing cutting-edge technology and fusing it with traditional stagecraft in a way that will create a world that has never yet been seen on an operatic stage: a visually minimal physical environment that can morph in an endless variety of ways through physical movement, video and light. The scenic units will glow from within and be projected on as they move about the stage, seamlessly blending the different mediums.”
As Shilvock puts it: “For Jobs, technology had to be more than just useful, it had to be beautiful.”
The only thing missing is the genius bar.
